1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an animal feeding device, and more particularly to an automatic animal feeding device for providing a predetermined quantity of food to feed animals in a predetermined time interval.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Typical animal feeding devices comprise a helical driving member for mixing food, and for providing the food to food dishes or the like. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,735,171 to Essex discloses one of the typical animal feeding devices.
However, the helical driving member of the typical animal feeding devices may not be used to precisely provide or feed a predetermined quantity of food to the food dish, because some of the food retained in the helical driving member may have a good chance to flow into the food dish inadvertently.
The present invention has arisen to mitigate and/or obviate the afore-described disadvantages of the conventional animal feeding devices.
The primary objective of the present invention is to provide an automatic animal feeding device for providing a predetermined quantity of food to feed animals in a predetermined time interval.
In accordance with one aspect of the invention, there is provided an animal feeding device comprising a housing for receiving food for animals, the housing including a front portion having an opening formed therein, and including a food dish attached to the front portion thereof and having a space formed therein and communicating with the opening of the housing to receive the food from the housing, a paddle device rotatably received in the housing with a shaft and including a plurality of blades to dispense the food through the opening of the housing and into the food dish when the paddle device is rotated relative to the housing, and means for rotating the paddle device to dispense a predetermined quantity of the food into the food dish, and preferably in a predetermined time interval, to allow the food to be supplied or dispensed into the food dish automatically without being dispensed by the users themselves.
The blades of the paddle device are extended radially and outwardly from the shaft, to dispense the food into the food dish. The paddle device includes a partition extended radially and outward from the shaft, and perpendicular to the shaft, to separate the blades into two parts.
A casing is further provided and received in the housing and includes an upper passage formed therein to receive the food, and includes a chute having a ramp directed toward the opening of the housing, to direct and dispense the food into the food dish.
The housing includes a mouth provided therein, the feeding device further includes a container to receive the food and having a bottom port engage able into the mouth of the housing, to direct the food from the container into the housing.
The rotating means includes a gear secured on the shaft, a motor coupled to the gear to rotate the shaft via the gear, a first worm secured to the motor, a rod rotatably received in the housing, and a second and a third worms attached to the rod and engaged with the first worm and the gear respectively, to allow the motor to rotate the shaft.
A timer is further provided and received in the housing, to control an operation time of the motor. For example, the housing includes a socket recess formed therein to receive the timer, the timer includes a plurality of switch knobs to adjust the operation time of the motor. The timer includes at least one button provided thereon to operate the timer.
Further objectives and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from a careful reading of the detailed description provided herein below, with appropriate reference to the accompanying drawings.